EMMET COUNTY, MI – Michigan’s only Dark Sky Park will get a $7 million upgrade this year. Emmet County leaders have approved a bond to fund an indoor observatory with restrooms and meeting space at the park near Mackinaw City.

Construction at The Headlands International Dark Sky Park could start later this year and be finished in 2015.

“Right now the concept plan is to put a program building that’s attached to an observatory that has an outdoor plaza that segues into a seating area," Mary Stewart Adams, the park’s program director, told MLive and The Grand Rapids Press.

The 600-acre county property west of Mackinaw City three years ago got designated as an International Dark Sky Park, one of 15 in the world. Public lands that meet light pollution and nighttime sky visibility standards are eligible for certification by the International Dark Sky Association.

Here’s a schedule of 2014 events at the park. Portable restrooms are available this year.

The county board this month authorized a bond to pay for the building. Engineers are working on drawings now, with plans to bid out the project this fall unless the public forces a vote on the bond.

The new building will have a green roof and its lighting will be focused in a way to shield bulbs from the sky. A dome donated by the Cranbrook Institute of Science near Detroit will be incorporated into the building. A $45,000 Michigan Department of Natural Resources grant will fund outdoor seating to look southwest over Lake Michigan.

Adams said the dark sky park designation in 2011 made more people aware that they can visit the county property. The county hopes the new building and observatory will bring more attention to the park, which is open round the clock and provides free admission.

“If you’ve been to Mackinaw, it’s a hoppin’ spot in the summer time. But it’s hibernating in the winter,” said Laurie Gaetano, the county’s parks and recreation director.

“With this we’d be able to pull events right through the winter. We’re hoping once the building gets there we’ll have interest from even more people.”